Magical Myths, Chapter Six
Chapter Six Aisha Aisha ran back to the city square as fast as her legs would carry her. When she made it back, there were stars spreading themselves across the sky. As she approached the city square, she slowed to a walk. She saw the others and her heart lifted a little as she jogged up to them. "I take it you found Imelda," said Ryder with a cocky grin that made Aisha's chest pound. He looked down at something on her, then quickly turned his gaze in another direction, whistling a small tune. Aisha was confused and looked at the pups. The boys were also looking at something other than her. Skye cleared her throat. "Uh, Aisha? Your zipper's a bit, um..." She trailed off. Aisha glanced down at her jacket zipper. It was low and showing her upper undergarments; it must have unzipped itself from her fight with Imelda. Blushing, she forced a laugh and said sarcastically, "Oh boy! Is it cold out here! You guys aren't feeling this?" She zipped her jacket a little and winked a "Thank you" to Skye. She replied solemnly, "Yeah. I did. But... It didn't turn out like I wanted it to." There was a moment of confused, awkward silence. Then Chase, being his typical police pup self, asked, "What did Imelda have to say?" Aisha faltered for words. She lied, "I don't remember. Everything happened so fast." "When you remember, would you tell us?" "Yeah. But that is only if and when I remember." Ryder noticed the scratches on Aisha's face. "What'd you do to yourself?" Aisha touched the claw marks. "Imelda gave me a parting gift." "They look like they hurt. Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "Hate to break up the conversation, guys, but don't you think that maybe we should go?" asked Rocky. "I heard from a shopkeeper that Madrid isn't very safe at night." "That's true," commented Ryder. "We need to go, anyway. The quest won't finish itself. Where to, Captain Aisha?" Aisha cracked a smile. She said in a cockney accent, "Barkingburg castle. Quickly now, troops! We must not dally!" Everyone laughed as they raced back to the Air Patroller. · · · They boarded the craft. It felt warmer than the crisp night air. Aisha sighed contentedly. There was one thing still on her mind though... "Ryder?" she asked, catching him away from the others. "Yeah? What is it?" he replied, a look of curiosity crossing his face. Aisha shifted her weight. "You don't need me to ride in the cabin, do you?" "No," Ryder said with a smile. "Why?" "I'm exhausted. Besides, I need some time alone. To think, that is. I mean, I can be in there if you want, but—" "It's fine. I understand. Make yourself at home." Aisha grimaced slightly at the memory of Imelda saying that. Ryder seemed to notice. "Hey, is something wrong?" Aisha inhaled slowly. "No. Everything is fine." "Are you sure?" "Absolutely." They stared at each other for a second, analyzing each other's thoughts. Aisha broke the stare first with a rapid jerk of her head. She had to keep her feelings in check. Behind her, Ryder said, "If you need anything—" "Just yelp for help?" Aisha interrupted, turning to face him. "Actually I was going to say 'We'll be in the cabin,' but that works too." Ryder moved to leave, chuckling to himself a little, when he stopped abruptly and asked, "Wait, how'd you know I say that?" "Just a hunch." Aisha grinned slyly. "See you after the flight." "You, too." With this, Ryder left the cargo hold. Aisha sighed dejectedly for a few minutes, thinking of Imelda. Soon, she fell into a light sleep. · · · Aisha found herself in a memory. She was in her old house somewhere in New York. Her father stood nearby, mixing two different plants for a medicine. "Daddy?" she asked. "What are you doing?" "I'm mixing some comfrey and calendula for Mrs. Thompson." He turned to look at her. "Comfrey is a special herb, it can knit broken bones together. That's why it's called 'Knit-bone.' Do you remember when you broke your elbow, Aisha?" "Mm-hm. It really hurt until you put that slimy paste on it. Was that comfrey, Daddy?" "Yep. It sure was. It comforted your leg, didn't it?" "Yeah!" "Well, that's a good way to remember the name. Comfy comfrey." Aisha giggled like she did when she was eight. They continued to talk, and her father listed the other uses of the herb. The dream changes to later. Her father, her mother (step-mother), and she were driving down a country road, away from Mrs. Thompson's. She was reciting the uses of comfrey to her father, who was sitting behind the wheel. "Very good," her father said. "You have a better memory than I did, and I had a very good memory." "Oh, you still do, dear," chastised her mother. "But don't let it go to your head." "Of course. So, Aisha," her father asked her, turning his head to look back at her, "would you help me in my study this evening?" "Yes, Daddy! Absolutely!" Aisha gasped, looking at a car headed straight for them. "Daddy, look out!" Her father slammed on the brakes, but was too late. The other car smashed into their front as Aisha closed her eyes and braced herself for death. Aisha opened her eyes. She was still alive, but her parents didn't look all right and the car was on fire. "Mommy, Daddy, wake up! We have to get out! The car is on fire!" she cried. When they didn't move, she tried jostling them around a little to try and wake them up. That didn't work, so she sat in the burning car and cried as emergency staff showed up. "Miss!" shouted one of the firefighters. "Please get out of the car! We think the gas tank is about to explode!" "I can't!" Aisha yelled back. "I can't leave my mommy and daddy! They need me!" "They need you to come with me, sweetie!" Aisha hesitated, not really willing to leave her parents here to die. "Daddy, forgive me. I wanted to save you, I really did," she said. She sniffled and a tear rolled down her face. "I guess I'll see you in the afterlife." With that, she quickly crawled out of the flaming Pontiac into the arms of the firefighter. He quickly scooped her up and began to run from the fire. The car exploded, sending both of them doubling over. · · · "Ah, welcome back, daughter," said a voice merrily. Aisha jolted up in a jiffy. Rosa, her mother, stood once again in the Temple of the Lovers. "You still have not gotten used to me yet." "Shut it. I'm half tempted to avoid sleeping to avoid you." Aisha checked her face for tears and glared at the Forestian queen. "You've caused me too much pain." "Oh how you wish. I would come talk through dreams like this anyway." "I'm stronger than you think, Mother. I've been living with the nightmare of my 'parents death for years now!" Aisha said spitefully. Angry silence crossed the room where they were. Irritably, Rosa muttered, "Imelda has flattering talk. I don't care what she told you." "You should! You sent me to her! Only a gosh darn fool of a queen would send her child to strangers in another world, visit her after thirteen years to say she has to go on this... this... this stupid quest, then say of herself she doesn't want to hear a lick of the information that she sent her child to collect! It's. Stupid. And I hate it. It's kind of like my feelings for you!" Aisha stared at her mother with a fierce, hateful look in her eyes. Rosa seemed dumbfounded at the fact that her own daughter would say such things to her. But before she could protest, Aisha pinched herself and bolted upright as the doors to the cargo hold slid open. It was Ryder. Aisha smiled. "I thought you were going to stay in the cabin until the flight is over." "The pups are asleep. Figured I could check on you," he replied. "That and I kind of wanted to show you something cool." "I'm cool if it's cool." "Great." Ryder pulled out his pup pad and pressed something. The back door opened, revealing thousands upon thousands of stars. Aisha gasped in wonder. Star-gazing had been one of her favorite things to do as a child. As they sat down next to each other, Ryder seemed to notice her awe-struck state. "You act overly chipper about this." Aisha shook her head to clear it. "It's just... been awhile since I've gotten to simply sit and stare at the stars for an extended period of time. You get a good view of the southern skies from here." Content quietness passed between the two. Finally, Ryder asked Aisha, "How long has it been? Since you've sat and stared at the stars, I mean?" Aisha thought. It had been awhile; awhile as in years. "I have no idea, whatsoever. It's complicated." Ryder looked as if he understood. "Got it," he said. They went back to viewing the stars. The question of how long it had been made Aisha think about her past. It was your average, war-torn hero story only sort of worth telling. Would he still care or look at her the same way if she told him? She sighed, expecting the worst, and said, "I—I didn't tell you my entire backstory when I told you about the Ruby Heart." Ryder looked at her in confusion and sudden interest. "Go ahead. I'm listening." Aisha shifted her weight. Clearing her throat, she continued, "You may wonder how I have so many street smarts.... It's because I've had two different actual families and lived in many different cities. I was a girl in a war-torn country. My parents simply couldn't win. When their highnesses gave the order to take the children to an alternate world, this one to be exact, I was taken, too. They sent me to a place in New York, somewhere in the countryside, to survive. I lived with a naturalist and his wife until I was eight. I loved them, and I learned so much from my father in natural medicine! Then..." Aisha's voice broke. "Then tragedy struck." Aisha's tone dropped to a whisper, enough that Ryder had to move closer to her to hear. "It was a normal day and I was riding with my parents. We were talking, Dad was driving, and.... And it all went kaput. I was telling my dad about the uses of an herb, comfrey. He wasn't paying attention, and a car rammed head-on into us. I.... I was the only one who survived the crash. I wish I could take it all back and do it over again, because it was my fault we crashed." Simply speaking the words made her heart ache. "Anyway, that's pretty much the worst," Aisha continued, her voice a little louder. "New York's OCFS, Office of Children and Family Services, took me in and sent me to a foster home in New York City that got to be pretty bad. They really seemed to like me at first, but then there were the parties." She shivered. "Those things were the worst. You wouldn't want drunk people trying to make out right smack in front of your bedroom door, would you?" "Ew, that's gross. Absolutely not," Ryder said with a small shudder of his own. "The parties made them crazy from the liquor. They started thinking I was simply wanting all their attention, which was only slightly true. I wanted them to stop drinking and take some time to know me again. They started to forget me and turn to their booze. And...." Aisha trailed off. "That's where you left." Aisha chuckled nervously. "Yeah, pretty much. I learned the rest after being on the streets in New York. You pick up a lot of tricks when you're on your own in a crime-filled city. Especially when you have to watch out for the grossly weird ones." Ryder appeared extremely startled at her last few words. "That's bizarre. Aisha?" He grasped her arm. His grip was firm, but gentle enough he didn't hurt her. "You could have just told me sooner. I understand your pain. You can say, I guess, that we're in the same boat. I have a painful past, too." Aisha couldn't say anything. She felt in awe that he was so much like her. She noticed her pounding chest and realized their faces were only inches apart. If someone didn't do something, they were about to kiss. Aisha braced herself for the exhilaration of the moment, when she felt the air whish between her and him, and drew her head back sharply as it happened. An arrow sat embedded in the metal of the airplane. With moves like a very talented gymnast, Aisha backward rolled out of the way of another arrow. She grabbed Ryder's arm quickly and pulled him out of the way of another bogey. Panting, Aisha told him, "Quick, tell Robo-Dog we have multiple bogies on our six-o-clock flank and he needs to pick up the pace because they have a pair of sneakers on." Ryder dashed back to the cab as Aisha whipped out the two boxes she had shown earlier. She pressed buttons on the sides of the boxes and made a sling-on-your-back motion with one and thrust the other down. As she motioned, the boxes lengthened into a bow and a quiver of arrows. She quickly ducked behind the door and nocked three arrows into her bow. She turned and fired blindly into the night. Two groans and an explosion resounded back to her. The explosion light up the area, showing that there was at least twenty men tailing them. Oh, boy, thought Aisha. I'm not going to have enough arrows for this. Nevertheless, she fired arrow after arrow, including a few special arrows. When she reached behind her and realized she had no more arrows, she waited for some to jump from their transports to her ride. Some did, and she whisked them right back of with some persuasion. Finally, one caught his foot under her leg and Aisha fell. Aisha winced in pain and wiped some blood off her face. The man who tripped her advanced with backup. Aisha tried to scramble back but wasn't able to; the man from which she was fleeing stood on her pants' leg. Having no choice, she uttered a single word, "Sciath!" (shuth) The man and his companions flew backward with a gold outward blast that lit up the room. After the blast faded, one of the men shouted something that sounded like "Sorceress! Evil twit!" to which Aisha facepalmed, held out her hand, and said "Soinneáin." (sinoan). A beam of bright blue light burst from her outstretched hand and hit the man cursing at her. The cargo hold turned dark and striped with red and the plane blasted forward with enough power to send Aisha rolling towards the door. "Whoa!" she cried, clinging to the edge with the pads of her fingers. As if that wasn't enough torture, the hatch began to go up and close. She grimaced in pain from holding herself up and her fingers slid. She free-fell in the night air. Muttering as fast as her tongue would let her, she shouted, "Athrú isteach éan!" (Adroo ishteok een.) She saw white light and felt her arms and body change and her bones lighten. Noting this, Aisha quickly thrust her arms down and she soared into the air. She did it again, and again until she could dive through the closing door. Aisha landed with a thunk on the floor. The cabin hatch opened and Skye entered the room. She shrieked and cried out, "An eagle!" "No no no no no! It's okay, Skye! It's me!" Aisha said to her. Skye shrieked out, "A talking eagle!" and promptly fainted like a swooning princess. Aisha held her wing to her head in an "Oh my gosh, why?" pose as the others came in to see what the noise was about. She muttered, "Ar ais." (Arash.), and saw the white light again. Her body became heavier and her arms changed back to normal. The others stood in shock at Aisha's transformation. "Yeah, I can do that. It kept me alive just now. It's actually really new. I didn't know I could do this till now." Marshall's jaw looked as if it was going to fall to the floor. "You have superpowers?" Aisha smirked. "Not superpowers. That is magic." Ryder walked up to her and asked, "Why didn't you ask for help? We would've done something." "No, it was better this way. It protected you, all of you." "Well, aside from that, I hope you have a plan to sneak into Barkingburg castle, cause it's almost impossible to break in," said Chase. "I know this because I ended up triggering the security system one time." "Oops. Sounds like you got it good," Aisha said. She grinned evilly. "Don't worry. I think I've got an idea to get us in." Look for Chapter Seven. Category:Fanon Episodes Category:Fanon Parts